


Bonus: Silver Falcon

by wheel_pen



Series: Darkwood Eastport [32]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Magic, Polygamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-02 02:04:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4041517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheel_pen/pseuds/wheel_pen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Silver Falcon clan stays in a hotel in Los Angeles for a few days, before settling into their new home. A couple scenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bonus: Silver Falcon

**Author's Note:**

> The bad words are censored; that’s just how I do things. I’ve given a lot of thought to the Darkwood culture, so if something seems confusing, feel free to ask. I hope you enjoy this original work!
> 
> Visual reference:  
> Robert--Robert Downey Jr.  
> Crystal--Gwyneth Paltrow  
> Harmony--Michelle Monaghan

            Day 2 at the hotel. The children were a little grouchy as Harmony had forced them out of bed at eight AM local time, which was who knew _when_ according to their bodies, but she was convinced this was the only way to acclimate them to their new time zone. Still, the older ones were sitting around one of the dining rooms, on the floor or couches if not at the table, proceeding through their lessons quietly. Perhaps _too_ quietly, Harmony observed, prodding one little boy who had started to doze off. She wished she could send them outside to run around, but obviously that wasn't an option right now. Maybe they could take a break for some kind of active game? Except there wasn't much room for _serious_ running the suites—and she was afraid they would break something.

            Leaving Crystal and Carla to oversee their sleepy charges, Harmony headed back to the other side of the hall, where much of the furniture had been pushed aside to make room for runners whose legs were a bit shorter. There was no dearth of energy over _here_ , between the squealing small children, the youngest two wives, and of course Robert, who rolled on the floor like a three-year-old. She watched him for a moment, leaning in the doorway with a smile on her face. A chair was suddenly knocked into and started to wobble, then crashed to the floor—fortunately with no one near it—making them all jump. For a second Harmony wondered why a servant hadn't caught it, then she remembered—there were no servants here, at least not yet—and she went to right the chair herself.

            Robert, who had probably been involved in the furniture abuse, caught her eye and managed to look mildly sheepish, though not really. She gave him a look that was equally chastising, which was to say, not much. He was paying for the furniture; he could break it if he liked.

            Her husband hopped up from the floor and joined her at the chair, helping to scoot it back against the wall. "How's it going in there?" he inquired, nodding towards the more studious side of the rooms. "Do you need anything?"

            "I think they're all still half-asleep," she admitted, "so I'm not sure what they're learning. Maybe we can play a game later…"

            He nodded thoughtfully, taking her concern in, but he clearly had something else on his mind. "I was thinking of going out," he said after a moment.

            "Alone?" Harmony responded immediately, the concern evident in her voice. She was at once intrigued by and frightened of their busy, chaotic new surroundings.

            "Actually… I thought I'd take Faith with me." It wasn't exactly a question—he was the head of the clan and certainly didn't need her permission to take one of his own children somewhere. But he was clearly throwing the idea out there to see her reaction.

            Much to his relief, Harmony smiled. "I think she would like that," she told him. "You won't go too far, though?" she added anxiously, remembering the cacophonous stream of vehicles whizzing through the streets. It seemed that she had witnessed several near-collisions just in the time it had taken to unload their bags earlier. Not that they didn't have experience in a large city in the outside world, but—those weren't exactly the memories she wanted to draw upon at the moment.

            "Not too far," Robert promised. "There's supposed to be a bookstore just next door. Elessar's going to meet me there," he added, again watching her reaction.

            Momentarily distracted by a childish dispute, Harmony whipped back around to face him at his last words. "Is Melody coming?" she asked, demanded almost, clutching his arm suddenly and fixing him with an intense gaze.

            "I don't know," he admitted, gently sliding his fingers under hers and freeing his arm from her grip. He held her hand tightly instead. "I assumed not, since he didn't mention it. Do you want me to call and ask him?"

            Harmony bit her lip, considering. Robert knew how much she longed to see her little sister, but—surely it would be unseemly of her, as First Lady, to insist upon an answer from White Horse clan. Robert was probably right; if Elessar was planning to bring Melody today, it would have been mentioned. They would have to see each other later—they had waited five years, another day or two wouldn't matter.

            Robert squeezed her hand, seeing her decision on her face. "I'll arrange a get-together when I see him," he promised. "And we'll get some more computers set up so you can email her. Or you could try the phone if you want."

            "A get-together would be nice," Harmony confirmed tightly. She wanted to _see_ her sister, embrace her, not exchange more impersonal messages. But she could be patient.

            Robert smiled at her. "We'll be settled soon," he assured her. "Remember the designer is coming tomorrow, to drop off pictures and plans. You'll be very busy decorating our new home." Busy enough to forget about her sister? Harmony didn't think so. But she appreciated his efforts anyway. "So…" he added leadingly after a moment, "do you think Faith will be ready to go soon?"

            "Oh right! Of course, I'll go get her." Harmony hurried back across the hall and slipped into the dining room again. Carla was bent over the table, pointing out something on a map to several children, while Crystal rested comfortably in a chair with one hand on her swollen belly. Robert had been most worried about her during the traveling ordeal, given her condition; but then again, she was also the favorite, so he would've worried about her anyway.

            Faith, the eldest child of the clan, was sitting at the table focusing dutifully on her computer screen. Robert had always been interested in technology and had insisted on trying the electronic Spectrum series as soon as it was available. Harmony had been dubious at first—the stacks of color-coded worktexts seemed so basic to her, so tactile and comforting—but the children had adapted quickly and even the youngest were astoundingly adept at operating computers and other electronic devices. Not that there had been _that_ many in the Valley anyway; but in this new land everything, it seemed, was electronic.

            Harmony touched the girl lightly on her shoulder, careful not to startle her. Faith glanced up quickly, then paused the animation she was watching and pulled her headphones off. Harmony signaled for her to follow her into the next room—she didn't want to disturb the other children with their conversation, or risk them insisting on being allowed to go out as well.

            "What's wrong, Mom?" the girl asked worriedly.

            "Nothing, nothing," Harmony assured her quickly. Faith was so grown up for being only fourteen, her mother decided proudly. She had worked as hard as any of the adults in getting the younger children safely to the hotel, not to mention all the responsibility she normally took for her siblings. She would be a wonderful clan leader in Lightwood someday. "Your father is going _out_ soon, to meet the leader of White Horse—that's your aunt Melody's clan—and he wanted you to go with him. What do you think?"

            "Out?" Faith repeated, with some excitement. "Out into the city?"

            "Not too far!" Harmony cautioned, although the girl didn't seem wary of the idea—far from it, in fact. "Just to a nearby store."

            "That sounds great!" Faith enthused. She had always had an adventurous streak, just like her father, though hopefully it wouldn't get her in as much trouble as it had him. The two of them were quite close as well.

            "Okay, let's see what we need to get you ready," Harmony continued thoughtfully, looking the girl over. They didn't have much in the way of clothing accessible to them at the moment—most of it was in storage somewhere around here, and anyway from what Harmony had seen in magazines and movies, the Los Angeles style was quite a bit different from typical Valley clothing. Well, that would be one of the fun things about living here, she told herself—trying new clothes and accessories that simply weren't available back home. But for right now, she felt her daughter's white shirt and dark pants would do.

            "Is she coming?" Robert asked hopefully, sticking his head around the corner. "What about her hair?"

            "I can't believe I almost forgot," Harmony muttered to herself, shaking her head. There was another aspect of clothing to get used to here—the public dress code decided upon by the Council, to set the clans apart from the rest of society. They certainly hadn't followed any kind of dress code when they lived in London—but then again they'd done a lot of things in London Harmony didn't care to repeat. So she had no objection to a few extra rules here, although the modesty restrictions might be a bit disappointing fashion-wise.

            "I think I saw a—" Robert wandered off while Harmony and Faith headed for their suitcases in search of scarves or shawls. "—a hat!" he finished randomly, popping back into Harmony's room. He waved a pink object at her that seemed vaguely familiar. "It was in the welcome basket from the hotel," he explained.

            "What's written on it? 'Dodgers'?" Harmony read. "What does that mean? It seems odd."

            "I think it's—hmm, a brand name," Robert guessed. "Dodgers Stadium. Dodgers Dry-Cleaning. Dodgers Thai Takeaway." He had seem all those businesses, or ads for them, on his previous trips. "Or someone famous. Nothing bad. Can you put her hair up under it?"

            A few minutes later—long brown hair tucked under the pink cap—Faith was ready to go. At least, she was standing by the door of the hotel suite with her father, but Harmony wasn't quite sure she was fit to leave yet. "Have you got your _cell phone_?" the woman asked, pronouncing the strange term careful. Robert was quite used to using his by now and all the ladies had been practicing calling each other around the hotel suites, but Faith had only gotten a short course. "Do you have water? Something to eat?"

            "Mom, I'm just going to a store nearby, not on a camping trip," Faith pointed out impatiently.

            "What about a jacket?" Harmony continued.

            "It's kind of warm out there, honey," Robert told her gently.

            "That _sunscreen_ then," she persisted.

            Faith made a noise under her breath, the noise of a generally polite teenager trying very hard not to tell her mother she was being an idiot. Harmony took the hint.

**

            The house and grounds were impressively large. Of course they had always had adequate space in the Valley, and its whole outdoors to explore. But 'adequate' wasn't always what one dreamed of. And now all this outdoors was theirs and theirs alone.

            It wasn't done yet—they would have been living in that hotel for months if they waited for everything to be completed. And that wasn't really the ideal situations for the kids, who tended to get restless indoors. Mary Lou, the designer, had suggested they finish the kitchen, the adults' bedrooms, and several bathrooms first, which would at least make the place livable, and then the other decorating decisions could be made while they were actually in the house itself. The kids were sleeping in so-called 'sleeping bags' on the floor, apparently, and most of them seemed to find this sufficiently novel to not complain about it. Besides, it gave the older kids more time to pick out decorations for their rooms.

            There was a lot of potential in this house, Harmony felt. There was room for expansion, room for everyone's interests to be explored, room to be together as a family and also room to give everyone a little bit of privacy, even if the kids _were_ sharing rooms. And the grounds—they adjoined White Horse's property, so the two clans would be free to come and go without involving transportation in public, and Harmony had already been over to the other estate several times looking for ideas. White Horse had swimming pools, tennis courts, beautiful flower and food gardens, orchards, even a stable for their small collection of animals. A clan named White Horse naturally had to love horses and riding, right? Although, the Falcon name notwithstanding, Robert wasn't particularly fond of animals himself. He probably wouldn't want anything as formal as White Horse's yard, either, but Harmony suspected the serenity of the Japanese garden might appeal to him. Right now it was all mostly open grass and dirt with just a few trees along the fence line—plenty of room for improvement.

            "Harmony!" She turned to see a figure waving at her from the back door and started to hurry back, surprised by how far away she'd wandered while thinking. Without the servants in place yet, that probably hadn't been the wisest thing to do—exactly the reason they were keeping all the kids in the house, just for a little bit longer.

            Lou was waiting for her when she reached the house. "Robert and Lord White Horse are back with the truck!" she reported excitedly. Lou had been quite fascinated with the motorized vehicles so prominent in this new land. Harmony suspected the young woman would've loved to ride through the city in the truck and help load the belongings they'd shipped ahead from their storage place, but Robert wouldn't have let _any_ of them venture out unnecessarily—especially the pregnant ones. "We're all supposed to gather in the main room!"

            The main room was still unfinished, of course—bare wood floors and walls, crates and boxes and other remnants of the finished parts its only decoration. But it _was_ the largest room, where all the family fit comfortably. If impatiently, as the restrained children bounced and tugged and whined. Their mothers did their best to corral them for a little bit longer.

            After a moment Robert walked through the door, looking hotter and more rumpled than Harmony was used to seeing him—he and Elessar had had help loading the boxes, she understood, but it was still labor-intensive. She found the look appealing, she had to admit, and took advantage of her position as First Lady to greet him before the others.

            “You look like you’ve been working hard!” she commented approvingly. “Can I get you something to drink?”

            He returned her kiss, clearly guessing the direction of her thoughts and appreciative of it. “Let’s get the ceremony done first,” he decided. “Then we’ll have more time to relax.” He turned to the rest of the room. “Okay, everybody! Children! Pay attention for a minute.” The mothers hushed the children as best they could. “Come on, let’s all sit in a circle, okay?”

            Gamely the children followed along, as they usually did with their father. Crystal, who had no intention of trying to sit on the floor in her condition, perched on the edge of a crate awkwardly. Robert would probably send her back up to her room as soon as the ceremony was over.

            “Is everybody here? Is anybody missing?” Robert asked, pulling one wandering child onto his lap. “Everybody has to be here! Okay? Now, I want everybody to close their eyes. Close your eyes! Everyone!” Harmony complied, keeping a firm grip on her youngest mobile children just in case. “Now, everyone needs to work together so we can make this house special, our real new home. I want you all to think about this house, and how much you like it. Think about how you’re going to enjoy living here, and what you want your room to look like, and how much fun you’ll have playing in the yard.” Harmony honestly didn’t see how this rather simple instruction was supposed to accomplish the miraculous task of bringing this ordinary, human-built house to life. But she was right there with Robert when Elessar and Cate had explained it, so instead of doubting Harmony tried to envision the finished nurseries, parlors, dining rooms, gardens—all the parties they would have, probably starting with a baby shower for Lou, and they would invite the other clan ladies and hold it in the largest parlor, which Harmony wanted done in shades of blue and—

            “Good morning, sir,” said a voice that was both familiar and not at the same time, and Harmony’s eyes popped open. “It is my pleasure to serve you and your clan.”

            There was a man standing in the center of the circle, fairly generic looking except for his uniform, which was black and emblazoned with the silver falcon symbol of the clan. Just like their servants back in the Valley. He was even speaking the Valley tongue. Harmony’s jaw dropped in amazement, and she knew she wasn’t the only one.

            The man turned to her and bowed politely, then acknowledged the other ladies in order of seniority, with a final nod to Faith as the oldest child. Harmony supposed he could have snuck in when their eyes were closed, but—he spoke the Valley tongue! The other clans had been in America for a few years, maybe that was long enough for someone to _learn_ their language—

            “This house and all who occupy it are now under our care,” the man went on formally, addressing Robert.

            “Thank you,” Robert told him. “You’re watching the grounds?”

            “Of course, my lord.”

            “Great. Then I think we can let the kids go outside and play!” This suggestion was met with much cheering and the older children promptly raced out the door. The servant helped Robert stand back up and a second man appeared before Harmony, ready to assist her as well. He looked younger than the first man, but equally bland, and when she was on her feet he didn’t so much disappear as drift from her eyeline—he might just have stepped out of sight, really, but she knew he hadn’t. He had vanished without a trace and the entire house and grounds could be searched for him without success—until the moment he was needed again by a member of the household.

            Robert was helping Crystal stand from her uncomfortable crate. “Why don’t you go back up to your room and rest?” he suggested to her gently. “You can have the servants bring you anything you need.” She certainly wasn’t going to argue; she looked pale and tired as it was. Robert scooped up the little boy who was clinging to Crystal’s hand. “Mommy needs a nap, doesn’t she, Jet? Here, you go out in the yard with Katie.” Crystal nodded and gave Robert a kiss on the cheek, then turned towards the elevator with a servant by her side for stability.

            Robert watched her go, then turned around to see the main servant back by his side, awaiting instruction. “We’re in a new land with new expectations and rules,” he began. “This property adjoins White Horse’s—can you communicate with their servants and learn what their duties entail?”

            “Of course, sir,” the man assured him.

            “Good. Do so.” Harmony knew it was occurring as they spoke. “The kitchen is mostly finished. You’ll find cleaning supplies there for your use. Please use them on the finished parts of the house.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “We’ll have outsiders here on a daily basis for a while, finishing the rest of the rooms. Keep an eye on them, and don’t let the children get in their way.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Lady Harmony”—Robert nodded towards her, including her in the conversation—“will discuss the food preparation with you. Make a list of anything you need purchased.”

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Also, there’s a truck out front with boxes in it,” Robert added. “Please have them delivered to the appropriate rooms and unpacked if necessary. And,” he said with a pleased smile, “invite Lord White Horse to come in.”

            “Yes, sir. Right away, sir.”

            The servant wandered off, and Robert took Harmony’s hands. “See? It’s already better,” he told her, and she nodded in agreement. The servants hadn’t followed them to London, probably because they realized Robert was only going to get into trouble there.


End file.
